STAGE 1 MODULES
Introduction to Accounting and Finance
To teach students the role of accounting and its development and the nature and significance of accounting information. Students will be introduced to record keeping and data processing.
Financial statements, performance and asset management. Accounting concepts and conventions, accounts of limited companies. Basic interpretation of accounts, relevant costs, cost behaviour, break-even analysis, cost-profit-volume analysis, marginal costing, full costing, overhead absorption and job costing. Introduction to variance analysis and budgeting. Financial corporate objectives and financial arithmetic, sources of finance, functioning of stock markets and investment appraisal.
Organisational Behaviour and Sociology of Work
To provide the foundations for the behaviour of people at work and to understand the broader social and organisational context of their existence. Evolution of management and control; the manager’s role in work organisational; the growth of organisations; organisational culture and structure; HRM and motivation; the social context; bureaucracy, class and society; the labour process; control and cooperation; gender and race; trade unions.
The Macroeconomic Environment of Business
To provide an analysis of the macroeconomic environment of business using basic business tools of economic analysis. To develop an understanding of the national and international economic environment, focusing on their impact on business. Unemployment; Inflation; National income and output; Money and interest rates; Macroeconomic policy; International trade; Protectionism; Multinational corporations; International investment; Trading zones; The European Union; The balance of payments; Exchange rate.
Business Law
To provide an understanding of the main legal structures in business with particular reference to Law of Contract, Tort and an introduction to Agency, Partnership and Company law. Formation of contract; Terms of a contract; Vitiating factors; Discharge of contracts; Remedies for breach of contract; Sale and supply of goods and services; Law of agency; Law of partnership; Law of torts; Company law.
Business Economics
To introduce students to key economic concepts, principles and policy instruments in the context of the business environment. Theory of demand; Markets – Supply and Demand; Competition; Monopoly; Oligopoly; Economic issues related to labour markets and boundaries of the firm; Market failure and government intervention.
Organisational Information Systems
To develop the basic awareness of information systems (IS) in an organisation. To develop an awareness of the nature, the process, and the organizational and the contextual issues involved. Digital and information age; Systems thinking; Information systems development methodologies; IS tools and techniques; Telecommunications and networks; Internet and E-Commerce.
Quantitative Methods in Information Management
To teach students the skills of analysis and the use of mathematical / statistical techniques to tackle business problems. Descriptive statistics, Concepts of probability and probability distributions; Confidence intervals and Hypothesis testing; Linear regression; Normal and T-Distribution.
Foundations of Marketing
To introduce students to the concepts and principles of marketing and their application. Marketing environment; Consumer and organisational buying behaviour; Market segmentation, targeting and positioning; Marketing planning and control; Product and pricing strategies; Marketing channels and supply chain; Marketing communication strategy.
Foundations of Production and Operations Management
Provide an understanding of the roles and contributions of production in organisations and the basic transformation model. Introduce the concept of a product or service in the context of delivery system design; explore the principal issues that concern the operations manager and techniques that can be used to support decisionmaking activities. The 5Ps of Operation; Product and service package; Product / service design process; Capacity management; Variety management; Operating system design; Work study; Total quality management; Operations planning and control; Health and safety.
STAGE 2 MODULES
Marketing Management and Strategy
To gain an understanding of a full range of marketing management and strategy frameworks. Strategic marketing; Consumer behaviour; Organisational buying behaviour; Competitive macro environment; Strategic marketing analysis; Marketing strategy formulation; Relationship marketing strategies; E-marketing strategy; Marketing strategy for mass-mediated services.
Economics of Industry
To provide students with an awareness of the organisation structure of industry, with an emphasis on interactions among firms in an industry. Students will gain a better understanding of how firms compete and organise themselves. Market and competitive analysis; Boundaries of the firm; Position and dynamics; Economies of vertical integration; Diversification; Market and industrial analysis; Strategic positioning; Competitive advantage; Internal organisation.
Organisation Analysis
To develop students’ understanding of organisations as continuous, fluid and emergent processes. To provide students with the concepts and vocabulary to identify, understand and analyse these very organisational processes, in particular with a view to being able to explain the ‘tacit’ and ‘implicit’ contexts within which work organisations exist. Cultural processes; Political processes; Linguistic processes
Practice of Management Skills
To develop an understanding of key managerial concepts, both traditional and modern, related to management as a profession. Evolution of management; Management and organisation structures; Ethics and social responsibility; Decision-making; Problem solving; Managing change and Organisational development; Strategic management process.
Financial Accounting
To develop understanding of external accounting reports, in particular their analysis, evaluation, and the regulations and policies governing their preparation, and also the principles of corporate governance and the role of auditors. Financial accounting standards and policies; Published accounts of companies and their interpretation; Significance and implementation of corporate governance; Goodwill; Revaluation; Auditing principles and guidelines; Internal controls; Major issues in auditing practices; critical analysis of company performance.
Financial Management
An introduction to the key aspects of financial management to boost the profitability of a business entity as well as create and improve shareholder value. To develop an understanding of how business are financed, and how methods of financing can affect decision-making. Investment appraisal; Risk and return; Bond valuation; Valuation of shares and firm; Cost of capital; Basic capital budgeting decisions; Dividend policy and share repurchase; Basic capital structure theory; Working capital management.
Resource Planning
To extend and further develop some of the themes and issues associated with operations planning, quality management and capacity management. To explore new concepts and techniques for the management of operations, including introductions to reliability, statistical process control, purchasing and materials management. Reliability and equipment selection; Statistical process control; Capacity management; Inventory management; Material requirements planning (MRPI); Purchasing.
Management of Service Operations
To expand on the study of service characteristics of organisations and their implications on the production of quality and the control of performance of service operations. Service package/ product characteristics; Service strategy; Service distribution and location; Service process design and layout; Productivity measurement in services; Management of queues; Customer satisfaction and service quality link.
Quantitative Methods for Managers
To develop the theory and application of statistical techniques in management. Hypothesis testing; F-distribution; Chi-square test; Analysis of variance; Correlation; Regression; Introductory multivariate statistics.
Business Information Systems
To understand the nature of information and its role in business management. To acquire information analysis skills to enable a discerning use of rich information resources. Characteristics of information; Components and types of information systems; Systems concepts – control and feedback loop; Types of models; Information system methodologies.
Psychology at Work
During this course students will: (i) study the processes by which organisations locate, recruit, assess and then train and develop the staff they need; and (ii) examine the specific techniques and psychological instruments used for these purposes and to develop critical skills regarding their appropriate use.
STAGE 3 MODULES
International Business Strategy
To develop an understanding of the theories and concepts that underpin the strategic moves of organisations in their internationalisation process. Addressing strategic issues in the context of regional and global competitive factors. International trade theory; Modes of foreign market servicing; Strategy, structure and control; Functional strategies.
Global Business Environment
Establish a firm foundation in the practice of international business through an in-depth understanding of the key environmental factors that impact on the global competitive moves of companies. Globalisation; Political, economic and cultural environment; International capital flows and financial volatility; Regionalisation of world economy; Regulation of international business.
Retail Marketing
To introduce the changing nature of the retail marketing environment. To familiarise students with marketing principles and theories that can be specifically applied to retail organisations. To provide students with a practical application of retail marketing and concepts.
The outline syllabus includes distinctive aspects of retail marketing, methods and approaches to retail strategy and marketing planning. Consumer behaviour and retail operations. The management of service and quality in retailing. The retail marketing mix and the retail product. Merchandise management, retail pricing, retail communications and promotions. Retail distribution and supply chain management. Retail location strategies and decisions. Management of the retail brand. Application of IT to retail marketing. Consumerism and ethics in retailing.
Understanding Strategic Management
To develop an understanding of, and ability in, the theory and practice of Strategic Management. Students will be exposed to the concepts and frameworks for the analysis of the external and internal environments of organisations, generations of strategic alternatives, as well as implementations and evaluations of strategies. Environment scanning and industry analysis; Internal scanning and organisational analysis; Strategic formulation; Strategic choice; Strategy Implementation; Evaluation and control; Strategic audit.
Applied Strategic Management
To develop the relevant knowledge, understanding and analytical abilities to undertake an in-depth strategic analysis of business organisations. Strategic implementation; Strategy and structure; Portfolio management; Corporate parenting; Managing strategic change; Measuring company performance.
Corporate Reporting
To develop an understanding of the objectives, priniciples and methods of external financial reporting including statements of accounting standards. To consider the impact of developments on accounting practice in response to changes in the social and economic environment. Stocks and long term contract; Role of audit and consolidated accounts; The grey areas of accounting concepts; Off balance sheet finance and revaluation of assets; Ration analysis; Foreign currency transactions.
Capital Markets, Investment and Finance
To provide an understanding of the workings of capital markets and the relationship between risk and returns. To provide practical skills in the evaluation of corporate investments and financing decisions. Corporate valuation and value-based management; Mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; Derivatives management; Multinational financial management.
Services Marketing
To provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the key issue in the marketing of services, to demonstrate practical applications of the services principles across a broad range of industries and the growing importance of relationship marketing within services.
The outline syllabus includes an introduction to services marketing and the important differences with product marketing, key principles of relationship marketing and how to make relationship marketing work within services. The role of customers and building customer relationships in service businesses. Strategic issues in services marketing and how demand affects the marketing of services. The marketing mix and the relationship of marketing implications – service product, distribution, people, communications and service quality.
International Accounting
This course aims to: (i) provide students with an understanding of the nature of, and the factors influencing, accounting and corporate reporting practices around the world and to consider the efforts by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and other bodies to harmonise accounting and corporate reporting practices; and (ii) to develop in students an awareness and appreciation of some of the contemporary issues that the IASB has had to deal with.
International and Comparative Employment Relations
Develops an understanding of the impact of the internationalisation of business on the management of people. Extents the knowledge and understanding of the critical functions and contribution of human resource managament in a multinational context.
Management Project
To enable students to apply the knowledge and experience gained in the taught component of the programme to a relevant topic or project. To foster individual development of critical enquiry and application of research techniques and to develop students in their planning of time and resources, analysing data and report writing.
